KS made Mullens pass the ball 21 times in the second half, and ran the ball only 3 times.
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How about using Juice? He did not touch the ball. How about a draw? What about a fly sweep? Attack the edge with a bubble screen. Does KS have a reverse in his playbook? Did they roll out Mullens? Even when Mullens did roll out, he did not trust his legs, and threw the ball out of bounds, because KS does not want his QB to be mobile at all.

I know. It kind of boggles my mind that people are still taking shots at Shanahan when in last 3 weeks the team beaten a team that was still fighting for the playoffs, beaten a team that is about to beat the chiefs, and hung tight with one of the top teams in the NFC… all while working with a quarterback and running back that were not even on the 53 man roster at the beginning of the season, 3rd and 4th string wide receivers, etc. Has he been perfect? Of course not. But considering the injuries the team has faced, I’d say he’s done a pretty damn good job.

Mullens did well against the Bears D actually better than I thought he would do. He should be allowed to challenge Jimmy G for the starter position next preseason . Only knock I have is height. Three passes knocked down at the line of scrimmage!. Might be too short to be a starter. Grant how many passes has Mullens had batted down this season?

Another game that slipped away. Got to score touchdowns in the red zone not field goals!

Sponge Bob – on the quick passes, the O-line has to get down the hands of the pass rushers, but replays showed the Bear defenders with them leaping, leaving the ground and arms fully extended. Niner O-linemen should have given them a shot to the gut or cut their knees rather than pass protecting them like it was a normal depth drop and set up by Mullens. has to be an aggressive pass set with a set and cut or set and punch, not playing patty cake. Big Ben gets passes knocked down at the LOS and he is 6-5. It’s O-line technique more than QB height.

RZ inefficiency has plagued the Niners all season and even all of last season. Remember, Gould was 5-5 last year in a 15-14 win, so in two years all of the Niner points have been off of the leg of Gould.

Yup. The Niners need to go bold, score TDs, and not settle for FGs.
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I blame KS for the tipped passes. He instructed Mullens to stay in the pocket and deliver the ball. The Bears schemed by stationing Hicks in front of Mullens with a hand up in the air, because he knew where Mullens would be. Niners should have had a mobile pocket.
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I wonder if KS’s instructions were too rigid. He probably said to Mullens to throw from the pocket, He obviously did not prepare Mullens for the scenario when he is out of the pocket. KS probably told Mullens not to use his legs, but just deliver the ball.

I reiterate. KS should have prepared his QB to think of every contingency. KS did not stress his QB using his legs to extend drives because he prefers to see his QB deliver the ball from the pocket.
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Obviously, Mullens was not coached to run past the sticks out of bounds, because he tried to deliver the ball into coverage, out of bounds. Good coaching will cover all bases. Inept coaching wastes time outs and does not think of all scenarios.
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Blame Mullens all you want, He has accepted all responsibility. However, I would think that a HC would want to help a raw inexperienced former UDFA, and help prepare him properly and thoroughly. Guess you think KS is totally blameless, I do not.

Too short as opposed to Drew Brees for example. One guy knocked down all of the passes and as Chris Spielman pointed out during the commentary. there are blocking techniques that make it easier to get the quick short passes off when everyone is on the same page. Either poor blocking technique or not being taught properly is what happened.

did anybody else out there notice that the Niners “swiss army knife” highest paid fullback in the NFL had absolutely no touches rushing or any passes directed at him today???????

how can that be???????

James and Breida had 1 target each; Taylor and Wilson Jr. 2 each and Goodwin 3 catches in 8 targets, but #44 did not even show up in the score book; yet, he is supposed to be invaluable as a receiver, but I guess in reality not that valuable

Here is Sean McVay’s post game presser comments about Goff who apparently played an efficient game. Mullens has had more productive outings in previous weeks, but did not draw anything close to this type of positive comments from KS. Maybe KS can take a lesson from one of his former underlings in Washington.

Sean McVay, on Jared Goff’s bounce-back performance after Goff completed 19-of-24 passes for 216 yards and a touchdown against the lowly Cardinals in a 31-9 victory: “He has great command, I thought he did an excellent job commanding the run game, did a good job recognizing coverage, getting the ball where it was supposed to go when we did decide to throw it.”

“He did a good job today, especially throwing it 38 times, protecting the ball fairly well. I know we’d like to have that one back, but definitely wasn’t a bad decision. Just a hair off Quise’s hand. He hung in there. Everyone misses a couple, but he also made a couple that weren’t there. A couple off schedule plays that were very impressive. I thought Nick, under the circumstances, played very well.”

“We didn’t complete a lot of balls, but just him getting rid of the ball on some really tough protection situations and being able to get that one to Dante at the end which was very tough to get off. [Seattle Seahawks LB Barkevious] Mingo had us beat on the right side and to get us off, to me, they don’t call PI a lot if you don’t throw it to him. One we missed a WILL free safety pickup that he threw to Bourne on third down that was just unbelievable. It ended up slipping out of Bourne’s hands, but it was a hell of a play. He’s done too good of a job.”

Too little praise meant Mullens did not think he could use his legs to convert that 4th down play.
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It sure looked like too little praise made his head mushy. Hence his throwing the ball out of bounds.

KS has made his preference for a pocket passer, all too apparent. No roll outs. Deliver the ball from the pocket. Using a QBs legs to extend drives is a foreign concept to KS.
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It was all too apparent that KS did not prepare Mullens for the possibility that he would roll out of the pocket, and that the smart move was to run past the sticks out of bounds to stop the clock.
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Mullens made a poor decision, but KS’s job was to make Mullens aware of every contingency. If Mullens was prepared better, he would have made the right decision. This is just like Pettis running out of bounds when he should have slid and stayed in bounds to keep the clock moving. Obviously, he was not coached well enough to consider time management scenarios.

Sigh, KS sure needs to be able to make adjustments. They did not score in the second half of the Bronco game, and they did not score in the second half of this Bear’s game.
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Now we know why KS needed to hire an OC. Too bad it is too late. How could it have hurt the Niners to have an OC? It might hurt KS’s feelings?
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How could having an OC possibly help them to win? Better preparations. Better play calling. Better assessments, and better adjustments.Maybe an OC could tell the players like Pettis to stay in bounds to keep the clock moving. Maybe an OC could tell the QB to use his legs to convert a 4th down, and run out of bounds to stop the clock.
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KS did not remind me of BW pacing the side line, he reminded me of Singletary.

I don’t know why the narrative of the past few weeks has been around whether Shanny is praising Mullens enough, guess its just that time in a lost season where its hard to find anything worth writing about. But Mullens has shown enough that he clearly has a place in this league, whether it be as a career backup or potentially a starter.

Today wasn’t his best game, and he’s good for a few poor decisions and throws a game. But he also has demonstrated an excellent command of the offense, awareness of where his open guy will be, and ability to make plays. That’s darn good for a young guy that was undrafted.

The offense really misses a top notch WR though. Kittle is great, and Pettis has shown enough to think he can be a productive part of the offense moving forward, so long as he can stay healthy. But a go to WR would really open the passing game up.

The OL has steadily been getting worse as the season has progressed imo. Today McGlinchey had a rough day. He’ll learn from that no doubt. But Richburg is the one that really worries me. A lot of money for a guy that is really struggling. I don’t think the red zone offense will be overly efficient until they can run the ball effectively inside the 20, and Richburg is a big reason why they haven’t been able to this year. I wouldn’t be opposed to trying to replace him this offseason.

The D today was very good. Really it was just a few missed opportunities that prevented them from keeping the Bears under 10 points. A couple of key penalties. I’ve liked what I have seen from the D the past few weeks. Give them some real edge rushers and I think the D could be pretty good.

Good overview. I thought Mullens did very well. He hung in the pocket and had awareness of the pressure and where to find the open man. He screwed up a couple of times and the most egregious was at the end of the game. However, this must be weighed by what he did at the end of the first half and gave the team an opportunity to score where someone without his determination might have thought it was 4th and let the clock run out.

The team continues to be inefficient in the areas it needs to improve: RZ and 3rd down efficiency. Several players who stood out to me:

Kittle, Bourne, Staley, Mullens (despite not having a good game), Jullian Taylor, Buckner

Several that stood out for the wrong reasons:
The aforementioned Richburg, Pettis (should work on fitness more than hair), Goodwin (if you can put your mitts on the ball you can catch it – to me he slowed anticipating the hit), Sherman fought his way into the melee and ejection, Breida I love the kid but he cannot finish a game.

KS wasted time outs like a drunken sailor. He should prepare the team well enough to get a play off in time. We all saw how not having 2 time outs in the first half made the Niners have to settle for a field goal. 19 seconds? Could have run 4 plays, and not wasted a play downing the ball to stop the clock, with those 2 time outs that were wasted earlier. Enough time to possibly score a TD.
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The Niners, and especially KS, should consider time outs to be precious, and saved for legitimate challenges, and the last 2 minutes of each half. Who knows? It may be the difference between winning, and losing.

You missed the point! Drunken sailors don’t waste Time Outs, they don’t have them! They may waste money or their leave and your simile may have made more sense, but as it was it only shows you don’t understand how to use similes.

sim·i·le
/ˈsiməlē/Submit
noun
a figure of speech involving the comparison of one thing with another thing of a different kind, used to make a description more emphatic or vivid (e.g., as brave as a lion, crazy like a fox ).
the use of simile.

Saw, can you see any positives about having 2 more time outs with 19 seconds left?
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KS with his pedigree, football association and years of experience, still lost a game because he did not coach his QB well enough to run past the sticks and out of bounds on 4th down.
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I have noted that this team has enough talent to beat the Seahawks, a playoff team that just beat the Chiefs, another playoff team. It is the coaching that is lacking, imho.

“McGlinchey has lined up against Everson Griffen, Justin Houston, Melvin Ingram, Clay Matthews, and Von Miller during his first 14 NFL games. Sunday posed another challenge: Khalil Mack, the 2016 Defensive Player of the Year and four-time Pro Bowler.”

“McGlinchey allowed Mack one quarterback pressure. After playing the first series on Joe Staley’s side, Mack moved over to McGlinchey’s on the following drive — and found little success. For the first time in the past four games, Mack did not record a sack.”

“On three consecutive plays, Mack knocked down Nick Mullens, accounting for all three of Mack’s quarterback hits Sunday. One came on McGlinchey.”

“And the fact that McGlinchey did not see a healthy dose of Mack shows the Bears sideline respects the rookie’s talents.”

mcglinchey almost got his RB killed too on a pinch move by the DE who snot bubbled the RB for a 3 yard loss. whoever this person is for knbr who made this quote about mcglinchey’s play definitely needs to look at the game film with a better eye!!!!!!! I am not saying mcglinchey has not had some good moments, but let’s be realistic!!!!!!!!!

I mentioned this in the live game blog when another poster said he looked like a rookie today — McGlinchey basically shutdown Mack adding another notch on his belt. The dude is a stud… One almost has to feel bad for those too clueless to know it.

This is a very favourable review of his performance. He was beaten twice in two plays that series where Mack hit Mullens three times in a row – once by Mack and once by Hicks. Hicks beat him badly on a run play later. He also failed to pick up Roquan Smith on his sack. That was his guy. He also had some wins, but all in all not a great game for McGlinchey.

Richberg grades out terrible every week, another whiff by shanalynch. Interior pressure is killing us, playing some top front sevens hasn’t helped either. Mullens will make a fine bk up for JG. Some of our young guys played young today, specifically Harris. I think hes outta position at fs, needs to be up close to L.o.s, exposed today in coverage.
We had worn their def down by the 4th, too bad we again inexplicably went away from the run. They quickly figured that out and pinned their ears bk on the pass rush. How many times must shanny lose a game with foolish playcalling? Def and ground game are formula to success vs gd teams.

The opinions of some of you on this smlog. Yes a smlog not a blog. Because it stinks like pure 💩 in here. Nick Mullens can’t carry Jimmys jock. No matter how many of you try to carry his. Kyle Shanahan decent coach, but I believe that decent will turn to good when he has his entire arsenal on offense and defense.You give me any coach with the injuries and bodies being displaced week after week and guaranteed they won’t do any better. Half the offense and defense are on third stringers and you dummies are criticizing like he’s coaching the 2011-14 niners. Do y’all not get the concept of “rebuild”. There is no Russell Wilson at QB, there is no Bobby Wagner on D. This team had 0 stars when the new regime came in. And the guys they were trying to groom to be stars are on ir, or continuously hurt, or are stupid, or there is that number 3 pick debacle. Get TF over it. There is a team still being built, this isint the nba where you pay for 3 people and win a title, it’s the nfl where if u lose so much as a RG, your season could be over. And this team lost its qb,rb,wr1 and wr2, every linebacker not named Fred, FS, Ss, 2 cb’s hell and a long snapper. But y’all want them to be playoff bound. And you aren’t fans, you’re critics who happen to call yourself fans. Sad thing is, it’s not just niner blogs, all team fan sites go through the same stuff. But how many are actually in rebuilds? There is a thing in life called reasoning, lord knows it doesn’t exit for 70percent of you.

I might be more impressed if you could spell.
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You act like this team is 11-4, instead of 4-11. They are not above reproach.
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Sure, there have been injuries, but this is a game of attrition. Every team has injuries, and how they respond to injuries is the crux of the matter. Even with all the injuries, with more competence, they could have won this game. In fact, they could have won 4 other games with better coaching, so the Niners could have been 9-6 and in the wild card hunt, if not for the LACK of coaching.
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I may be critical of KS, but I have not been calling for his head. I point out his mistakes so he can learn from them, and not repeat them. Too bad KS is so stubborn, he deems it unnecessary to have an OC. Too bad a team with no OC is 4-11. That is a reality you seem oblivious about.

Above reproach? Ok Jim Harbaugh parrot. You idiot, of course all teams go through injuries but “never” at this rate. If so genius, name 1… sit on it and rotate. You sound like you were pooped out of Harbaughs butt and regurgitate everything he says. Above reproach! Unbelievable

Defend a 4-11 team all you want. JH was 44-19-1. I like HCs who got to the NFCC Game 3 times in a row, into a SB, and was one pass from returning.
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BTW, the Eagles lost their starting QB and had many injuries, and won last year’s SB.
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It sounds like your ‘genius’ is shining from every orifice.

KS, by passing almost exclusively in the second half, was shaped by Fangio.
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Fangio directed his pass rushers to tee off, and rush to a spot. Mullens was a sitting duck. Those batted down passes were a direct result of knowing exactly where Mullens would be. KS was so obliging, instead of being innovative and unpredictable.

Again you’re an idiot! And just because I know how something is used doesn’t mean I partake. Not a dumb pothead who thinks everything that comes out of their pie hole is brilliant either! That’s reserved for someone else on this board…

Glad you defined yourself.
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I think time outs should be considered precious, and saved for legitimate challenges and the last 2 minutes of each half.
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You think that is a hoot, and are glad when KS wastes them like a drunken sailor.

I am just a Die hard faithful Niner fan. I do not claim to have a seat upstairs,and just watch the game on TV, like many others.
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I really do not need to see the whole field to know that Mullens should have run past the sticks and out of bounds, instead of throwing the ball out of bounds.

Sure am glad Jack called you out on your welching.
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Prime, I did not guarantee Mullens would garner a boatload of picks. However, if he had won out against the Seahawks, Bears and Rams, his trade value would be very high for a team like the Skins.
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Now that he lost, and how he lost, Mullens would probably garner a third or 4th round pick for a QB needy team.

In your old age you seem to have a selective memory.
As for Hammer calling out my welching,
he still didn’t get the details right. But he’s a has been anyways,tried to create his own blog, give me a break. Epic fail.

Your words again:
sebnynah says:
December 16, 2018 at 6:30 pm
Not multiple first round picks, but a first, second and a 2020 second round pick could be possible.

So what was it you said about a boatload of picks? Would you like to change your testimony?

Keep trying Prime. Deny the welching enough, and some day, even you will begin to believe it.
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Jack and I disagree a lot, but he has more football acumen in his toenail clippings, than you have in your entire body.

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Inside the 49ers: Grant Cohn

I cover the San Francisco 49ers year-round for The Press Democrat in Santa Rosa. Argue with me, agree with me, or just read the posts and follow the conversation. I've been a contributor to several other regional and national sports websites, and I also write two online columns a week for pressdemocrat.com, which are posted on this site as well.